HD Wallets

The Simple Way

var wallet = new Wallet(Wordlist.English, WordCount.Twelve);
var account = wallet.GetAccount(0, chainId: 1);
var web3 = new Web3(account, "https://your-rpc-url");

Generate a mnemonic, derive an account, and start using it — all in three lines.

Instead of managing individual private keys (and backing up each one separately), HD wallets derive multiple accounts from a single mnemonic phrase. Back up 12 words and you can recover all your accounts. This is the same approach used by MetaMask, Ledger, and Trezor.

Nethereum offers two implementations:

Package	Use Case	Dependencies
Nethereum.HDWallet	Full HD wallet — NBitcoin-based, extended keys, multiple derivation paths	NBitcoin
Nethereum.Wallet	Light HD wallet — zero external crypto deps, modern .NET only	None

Full HD Wallet

dotnet add package Nethereum.HDWallet

Generate a New Wallet

using Nethereum.HdWallet;
using NBitcoin;

var wallet = new Wallet(Wordlist.English, WordCount.Twelve);
var mnemonic = string.Join(" ", wallet.Words);
Console.WriteLine($"Mnemonic: {mnemonic}");
Console.WriteLine($"Address 0: {wallet.GetAddresses(1)[0]}");

Restore from Mnemonic

var wallet = new Wallet("rapid squeeze excess salute ...", seedPassword: null);
var account0 = wallet.GetAccount(0, chainId: 1);
var account1 = wallet.GetAccount(1, chainId: 1);

var web3 = new Web3(account0, "https://your-rpc-url");

Derivation Paths

// Default: m/44'/60'/0'/0/x (MetaMask, TREZOR, MyEtherWallet)
var wallet = new Wallet(words, null, Wallet.DEFAULT_PATH);

// Ledger/Electrum: m/44'/60'/0'/x
var walletLedger = new Wallet(words, null, Wallet.ELECTRUM_LEDGER_PATH);

Get Keys and Addresses

var addresses = wallet.GetAddresses(10);
var privateKey = wallet.GetPrivateKey(0);
var ethKey = wallet.GetEthereumKey(0);
var account = wallet.GetAccount(0, chainId: 1);

Public (Watch-Only) Wallet

Derive addresses from an extended public key without exposing the private key:

using Nethereum.HdWallet;

var wallet = new Wallet(words, null);
var xPub = wallet.GetMasterExtPubKey();

var publicWallet = new PublicWallet(xPub);
var addresses = publicWallet.GetAddresses(10);

Light HD Wallet (Nethereum.Accounts)

Zero external cryptographic dependencies — uses only System.Security.Cryptography. Included in Nethereum.Accounts (no extra package needed — already a dependency of Nethereum.Web3).

using Nethereum.Accounts.Bip32;

// Generate a new mnemonic
var mnemonic = Bip39.GenerateMnemonic(12); // 12, 15, 18, 21, or 24 words

// Create wallet from mnemonic
var wallet = new MinimalHDWallet(mnemonic);

// Derive keys (fixed path: m/44'/60'/0'/0/{index})
var key0 = wallet.GetEthereumKey(0);
var address0 = wallet.GetEthereumAddress(0);

// Or use a custom derivation path
var key = wallet.GetKeyFromPath("m/44'/60'/0'/0/5");

When to Use Which

Feature	Nethereum.HDWallet	MinimalHDWallet
Dependencies	NBitcoin	None
Target frameworks	net452+ (legacy support)	net6.0+ (modern only)
Extended keys (xPub)	Yes (PublicWallet)	No
Key caching	Yes (dictionary-based)	No
Custom derivation paths	Any BIP-32 path	Any path via GetKeyFromPath
Watch-only wallet	Yes	No
Best for	Full wallet apps, hardware integration	Embedded wallets, mobile, WASM

Next Steps

• Hardware Wallets — Ledger and Trezor use HD derivation internally, but the key never leaves the device
• KeyStore Files — encrypt individual derived keys for storage
• Keys & Accounts — account types and key generation